Grateful Heart

168 this morning! Just a pound this week, but a pound is a pound is a pound! Never to be seen again! Beginning Weight - 219 Surgery Weight - 215 Today Weight - 168 TL - 51

Bought size 12P pants and bluejeans at Dress Barn! Love it, love it, love it! And I don't have to shop in the plus size department anymore!

Boy, did I enjoy some good crawfish this weekend. Ummm............. 169 this morning.

Just one more case. I had the sleeve on 2/4/10 and was admitted to the hospital on 3/17/10 with pancreatitis and again on 3/28/10. My surgeon was out of town on the first admit so the hospitilist just put me on bowel rest and IV for several days and sent me home. When my surgeon heard of my hospital stay he ordered gallbladder tests, but I had another attack of the pancreatitis before we could get the tests done. Long story short, I got the gallbladder jerked out and have had no more problems with the pancrease. I seemed to be a little more sore from the gallbladder surgery, but was back on my regular diet after I got home.

173. I have been going up and down for about 3 weeks and getting a little discouraged. But I looked back at my post on 4/5 and was 177 so at least I have lost!

I made the decision before my surgery that I would tell everybody - before, during or after! I just didn't think I could stand the stress of the "cover-up"! I am not ashamed!!! I had surgery after years and years of yo-yo dieting. Nothing ever worked where I didn't gain all I had lost back plus some. I just hope I never offend anyone. Sometimes I just want to look at someone who is obese and say, "Haven't you heard about the sleeve?" But I keep my mouth shut because I would never intentionally hurt someone. But then again if they ask how I am losing all that weight, I feel free to share my journey with them. I'm in a different stage of life, though. I realize that. I am 59 years old and truly no longer care what people are saying about me. Sure, it would hurt my feelings if it got back to me, but I realize it is their problem not mine. I even thought that maybe I can help someone else who is watching my journey. I am happy! My husband is happy! My grown children are happy! I am at peace with myself and with God. That's all that really matters!

This is a really weird journey! I've been up and down for the past 3 weeks. From what my doc said, my metabolism has bottomed out because I'm eating so little. I guess that could explain some of the comments some of you made about feeling guilty about overeating (1000 calories hmmmmm!) and losing weight. Could it just be that your metabolism got geared up again after being in starvation mode? I posting on another thread that my doc said my next step is to get my calories up to 700-800 a day. Then I could begin building muscle. He said, "It is impossible to build muscle on 300-500 calories a day." Just saying........... One more thing... My DH and I were out doing a little shopping on Saturday and decided to stop and eat the Soup & salad at Olive Garden. I so love the salad at OG! So he had the Soup, Salad and Bread Sticks (I so love the bread sticks at OG!) and I had the salad. I ate my salad. After I was done I tore the middle out of a bread stick and had a couple of bites. Enjoyed it all immensely. My point is that the salad and the couple of bites of bread did not satisty me at all! I felt empty in only a little while. I guess because there was not any Protein in my lunch. Next time I'll be sure to get something with some chicken in it.

I went for my 6-week checkup yesterday (which was really 10-weeks because I was in the hospital at 6-weeks with gallbladder surgery). Anyway, my doc told me that by now my metabolism was probably bottomed out because I am only getting in from 300-500 calories a day. He didn't ask me about my calorie intake, he just knew (and he is right.) He then told me my next step is to begin exercising to build muscle to lessen the loose skin. But what I must do first is get my calorie intake up to 700-800 calories a day. He said it is impossible to build muscle when you are getting only 500 cal/day. It all made sinse to me. He advocates an Atkins type lifestyle - high Protein, low carb, but also low fat (which sound to me more like South Beach.) Anyway, I find it very difficult to eat 700-800 calories a day while keeping it low carb and low fat. I just can't eat that much! Wow! I just updated my ticker and realized I am exactly half-way to goal at 10-weeks post op! Yeah me! I'd appreciate any comments about the calories and building muscle!

Tiffikins - You said you could never do low carb and low fat? Are you doing low fat or low carb or neither. I'm confused.

MINI - Thanks for the tips. But I've never drank protein shakes. I use Pro-stat 64 for my protein supplementation. No I never thought I would ever be "complaining" because I can't eat enough! LOL. And the only people who understand are ya'll. I could never say those kind of things to my friends at work. Most of them are ffrom a little to a lot overweight. They are already hating me a litlle for eating so little and dropping weight so fast. They all know about my surgery. I just think it would be rubbing it in if I told them I have to try to eat more. LOL

I live in Louisiana as well and Red Beans and Rice are one of my favorites. Actually made some Sunday and ate just a couple of tablespoons of rice and maybe 1/3 cup beans. I haven't had any issues with rice. I just figure it is a high carb and don't want very much of it - I'd rather have the Red Beans, ham and sausage, hmmmmm!

I have to ditto the Miralax. It's so easy to put in coffee or water or any liquid or sprinkle in your food. I know it's more challenging when only drinking 1 oz every 30 minutes like I was in the beginning. I'd definitely talk to my surgeon or PCP for advice.

Congratulations! I also bought a few things last week. I work and need to look nice. I am a little more than a week behind you. I was wearing 18's (tight) and bought size 14 pants. It wasn't really until I bought pants that fit that people really began noticing my weight loss! I'm with all of you about the midriff and waist thing! I just kept waiting for the "swelling to go down" and then I had to have my gallbladder taken out on March 30, so I'm again waiting for the swelling to go down! LOL

I'm not sure if you meant that to be funny but I'm dying here!

Hi everyone. I was admitted to the hospital last night with pancreatitis. I thought I had something lodged in my sleeve. But evidently it has nothing to do with my surgery. Anyone else have experience with this?

Ooooooooo! Just ate some very soft, tender broccoli for lunch. Kept it down but it kept wanting to slide back up! This is my first time to try broccoli since my sleeve - it will be awhile before I try again. Weird!

Got up early. Excited. Not really than anxious. Supposed to be at hospital by 8:00 a.m. Was told surgery would be 9:30 or 10. Well they didn't come and get me until 11:15. Then in holding for a good bit longer. Lost tract of timeline. I had a pretty good size hiatal hernia that the surgeon repaired as well as the VSG. I awoke in recovery feeling like I could not breathe. I remember I kept saying, "I can't breathe!" And the nurses kept telling me that I was breathing. Heard the doc in the background saying it was the pressure from hernia repair that made me feel that way. Don't remember going to my patient room. Do remember waking up very nauseated. Very sick for about 12 hours. I new the doc didn't want me throwing up but you know, some things you just can't control. Dry heaved quite a bit the rest of the day and throughout the night. DH stayed with me (the sweet thing!)

Krystal, I don't think I have ever prayed for someone to HAVE a condition like sleep apnea, but I think that would be a clincher! Here goes....... Becky

I'm so sorry that your insurance denied your request! Now that you know you can move to step 2, right? Just keep on believing and I'm praying for you. Becky

I think this is my first post on this thread. 177 this morning. Starting Weight 219 Day of Surgery 214 This morning 177 Total lost 42 yeah!:biggrin0:

Educationrulz My understanding is that the gallbladder can get angry anytime a person loses a lotof weight, especially rapidly whether they have weight loss surgery or just go on a strick diet of some kind. It has nothing to do with this type of surgery. That is what I have been told.

Thanks again everybody for your thoughts and prayers! You are all awesome. All I can tell you of my experience with the hidascan is that I had one:001_tongue: Unfortunately (for you, not me) I don't remember much. At that point I was still in a lot of pain and nauseated so they were keeping me pretty drugged up. All I really remember is laying on a stretcher type thing and an xray type thing comes over me and just stayed there for a long time - like a couple of hours. Thank goodness I was drugged or I would have been very very bored. I already had an IV so they could have injected dye. Any medical type people out there that can clarify this procedure?

UPDATE: Last Saturday (3/27) the pancreatitis pain came back! I talked to my surgeon and he said I could go to the emergency room or I could go on Clear liquids and see if the pancreatitis would resolve on its own. So I went on clear liquids and sure 'nuff the pain was gone on Sunday morning. I even felt good enough to go to church! The doc also had told me he was going to reschedule my GB scan and Hidascan for Monday because we shouldn't mess around with pancreatitis. By Sunday afternoon the pain returned worse than ever! I still had not eaten anything. I didn't want to go to the emergency room because it's like a 24 hour clinic. Last week when I when I sat in the emergency room forever before even being evaluated. So I thought I'd tough it out because I was going to the hospital the next morning for the tests. By 10:00 p.m. though I told my husband we had to go to the emergency room. By the Grace of God (and I mean that literally) they took me back immediately. When I was there before my enzyme count was 1200 when it should have been 200. This time it was over 5000! I was in such extreme pain I thought for sure I would die. They gave me Dilaudid and nausea meds through an IV. The Dilaudid relieved my pain almost immediately. I was admitted to the hospital again NPO. That was Sunday night. They kept me pretty drugged up (thank you very much:tongue_smilie:) and did the GB scan and Hidascan on Monday. The tests took most of the day because I was still dry heaving every time I moved. My surgeon told my husband that my gallbladder and pancreas were not getting along so the gallbladder had to go. He did the surgery Tuesday morning. He said it was full of "sludge" I have 5 little scars from my sleeve, now I have 4 more! But I am so glad they didn't have to make a big cut! So I was released from the hospital on Thursday. It's good to be home. Feeling better by the day, but this gallbladder surgery has made me much more sore. Thank all of you for your prayers and well wishes.

My doctor has a support group that meets once a month. This month there was a husband and wife there who had it done 1 day apart. They are doing great. I guess it just depends how pitiful he is One word of caution, though. Men generally loose weight much faster than women so don't let it get to you!

No, Krystal, I don't know if Dr. Merriman oversews the staple line. Didn't care at the time. I trusted him.